Chapter 9: The Hunt Begins
Ozpin sat in his office, contemplating recent events. The release of Torchwick, the robberies, the resurgence of the White Fang. Especially the duel between his students in Vale, and the mass attacks in Atlas. The world was shaken and afraid, and it would be when one of it's largest titans, the Atlesian Military appeared to be so weak. Some whispered it's end was near.
But Ozpin knew the truth of the matter. Atlas would rise and become even stronger in the face of adversity. After all, Ironwood was-or rather still is a very capable commander, and it would take more than an insurgency to bring about the fall of Atlas. What perplexed him was the sudden dwindling-down on White Fang attacks, as if the great forces that suddenly rose up had melted back into the shadows. Every day there were continued reports of caches and bases found, and the occasional shoot-out, but no greater resistance. As if they were biding their stenght and time for something else. With the Vytal festival approaching, he had to uncover the truth somehow.
Ozpin sighed and lay back in his chair, taking a sip of coffee. It was late in the night; he was unsure how many hours had passed with him trying to figure out the pattern of events. Maybe he should take a nap; caffeine couldn't fuel him forever. His eyelids felt heavy and drifted down.
A sudden ringing of his scroll blew his sleep away. Jerking back into action, he grabbed it and saw it was a call from Ironwood, James. What did the General want? Connecting it to his workstation so they could face one another real time, Ozpin picked up.
"Ozpin! I'm glad you picked up; I wasn't sure you would be awake." James said, worry and concern evident in his face.
Ozpin raised an eyebrow. There was something...desperate in Jame's voice.
"Friends are always available for one another. What is it? You look extremely stressed; I thought the insurgents are not giving you much trouble anymore." Ozpin cooly replied, keeping his facial expression impassive.
"It's their lack of activity which concerns me. One moment they strike out with force; the other moment they dissappear for a while, we get relaxed and they hit us again. Yes, the news treats each cache found and each dead terrorist as a success, but the politicians in the council and the pacifist media start to raise hell with these discoveries. They think we can negotiate with the terrorists-" Ironwood derisively snorted. "Ontop of that, there are outrageous rumors floating about, and nobody trusts anyone anymore. Faunus-Human tensions are getting worse." Ironwood concluded. He sank back in his chair, looking tired and defeated.
"Well, I wish you luck in your effort to bring peace; but may I ask what all this has to do with me? I am a simple headmaster; I am sure you have more pressing matters that require your time." Ozpin said smoothly. James sighed. Now was the time to ask his help.
"I require your assistance."
"The world's strongest military requires my help?" Ozpin, eyebrow still raised, slightly tilted his head to the left.
"Yes. I require a few of your students to help me track down an important target." Ironwood's manner was now brisk and business-like, the exhaustion on his face having seemingly evaporated.
"I suppose the nature of this target prohibits the large-scale use of your mighty battalions, but why don't you use your own specialists and students. Are they not capable for the task?" Ozpin continued to question, and he could note a slight dilation above Ironwood's right eye.
"The...truth of the matter is that all of our assests are involved in the conflict. Please, Ozpin, ignore the fact that I'm a general right now. This target may very well be the key to unravelling these past events. As a friend, I ask your assistance." Ironwood pleaded, though the dilation was not yet gone.
Ozpin considered it. He had to ensure the safety of Beacon, and he desired the same answers Ironwood was seeking. If the target could bring him that, then fine. At any rate, Ozpin was not one to leave a friend in the lurch.
"Very well. I will provide assistance at one condition; the target is brought to Beacon, so both of us can interrogate it." Ironwood could not resist, though Ozpin now noted that that there was a dilation above Ironwood's left eye now.
"Very well. I'll send you the details." with that the video link was closed. The general's voice told him that he was not pleased. Ah well, sometimes the price to pay for answers was a momentary loss of affection. Looking over the team roster, Ozpin allowed a groan to escape his lips. All fourth,third and second year teams were busy, and only the first years remained available. Still, this mission could prove useful in terms of experience for these young huntresses and huntsmen; but who to send? Only the ones who had shown the most proficiency in classes could be sent; and only two displayed such skill.
Teams RWBY and JNPR. Saving a reminder in his scroll notes; Ozpin lay back in his chair. He was asleep before he even knew it.
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Ironwood rubbed his eyes, thinking he had made too many concessions. Some may argue that changing the locale of interrogation was a mere change; but Ironwood was the sort of man who would prefer to have everything on his home ground, so he could run the show. Ozpin may be a friend, but matters of state security always come first. Still, there was no changing things now.
Ironwood returned to his scroll. They had managed to acquire the teeth of one of the attackers, and the lab reports indicated that it was none other than the dishonoroubly discharged Master Sergeant Clyde 'Roux' Johnson. He remembered the fellow; one of the few Faunus in the Atlesian military. Most of the Faunus population in Atlas distrusted the Atlas military, seeing them as oppressors of Faunuskind, their sympathies lying with the White Fang instead. And who could blame them? A great many atrocities were carried out by Mistral troops in the Great War. But Ironwood sought to change that mindset; Faunus recruitment was encoraged, racism discouraged. Sure, there were a few unpleasant incidents...which were a partial cause behind replacing the Human and Faunus troops with robots. Still, Ironwood felt sorrow for the Master Sergeant, who had been lost to the wrong cause. A shame, for he could have become an officer.
And all because he tried to stop the lynching of a Faunus recruit, accidentally killing another soldier in the process. That was enough for the anti-military news organ, the Atlesian Free Media to publish biased and inflammatory stories about the state of the Atlas military. The rest was political meddling by Ironwood's enemies in the council; and Clyde was the unfortunate scapegoat.
Ironwood sighed. It wouldn't do to dwell on the past, only what he did in the present mattered. Only that way he could make a better future. For now, he'd play the council's dirty game, serving the White Fang operator to them, like meat thrown to starving wolves. Ironwood also felt a certain sadness about that too. Robert Aurum, after getting out of his tear stricken funk managed to make a basic sketch, which if true suggested that the operator was a mere boy of 17, with an unlocked Aura and the skills of a huntsman in training. A waste of talent. So far they only had a few basic sketches; long-ish grey hair, high cheekbones, slightly sunken cheeks, cerulean blue eyes and a tall, well-built stature. It wasn't much, but it was something. Sending the details to Ozpin, the mighty general headed off to his quarters.
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The alarm clock rang out, and immediately a milky white arm shot out from a pile of bedsheets, setting it to 'snooze'.
10 minutes later, it began to ring again, and now with the speed of a python striking at it's prey, another arm shot out from the bedsheets and set it to snooze.
15 minutes later, when the alarm rang an impressively-muscled arm shot out , hovered over the alarm for a moment, then bunched up into a fist and came down on the clock, shattering it.
Ruby immediately got out of bed.
"Good morning team," she yawned, before her jaw dropped at the sight of the destroyed alarm. "Yang! What was that for? Now we can't tell if we're late or not!"
The blond's head appeared from underneath the pillow, lilac eyes still clouded with sleep.
"It was annoying." she muttered.
"For your information, it's going to be 9 in ten minutes." the Schnee heiress said coldly as she inspected her scroll.
"We're going to be late!" Ruby squealed in panic, jerking the bedsheets of Yang's and Blake's beds, waking them up.
There was a flurry of activity as the girls tried to do multiple activities at once (Yang tried to pull her shoes on with one hand while brushing her hair with the other, Blake attempted to tighten her skirt while hiding a certain book she was reading last night, and Ruby tried brushing her teeth while eating a cookie, but ended up in scraping the cookie against her teeth and chewing on the toothbrush). Only Weiss watched as she was already dressed, unamused. Finally, when they were done Ruby opened the door, only to find Glynda Goodwitch standing there.
"Eeep!" was Ruby's response, transfixed to the spot by Glynda's glare.
"Children, you must try to adjust your schedule. Tardiness is an offence." she sighed "But I'm here to take you to Ozpin's office. Please follow me." and with that she turned on her heel and began to briskly walk away.
"Did we do something wrong?" Ruby whispered, silver eyes watery with concern. Yang ruffled her hair.
"It's probably nothing, Rubes. Calm down." she beamed, and Ruby began to relax somewhat, the group now following Glynda, wondering what Ozpin had in store for them.
Finally, they were in his office, where the great man himself sat behind his desk, sipping from his cup of coffee as usual. Team JNPR was already there, to RWBY's surprise. He motioned for the students to take a seat, which they did, shifting nervously.
"You are wondering why I brought you here. It is simple; I've got a mission for you." When Ozpin said these words, he noted the delight on everybody's faces, with the exception of Jaune, who looked a bit queasy at the prospect while Ren, Weiss and Blake remained stoic. The headmaster continued on.
"You along with a small detatchment of Atlesian soldiers will travel to Solitas to track down a certain High Value Target. The description will be uploaded to your scrolls. Find him and bring him back alive."
"Is that it, sir? Do we have a name?" said Weiss, who was perusing the description of the target.
"Firsty; Yes. All you have to do is bring him here, and I will handle the rest. Secondly we unfortunatley do not have a name, though our population scans are narrowing down the list of suspects. Aditional information will be provided when it is available." Ozpin answered.
The two teams looked at one another, then at Ozpin, unsure of what to do.
"The transport will arrive soon. I suggest you head out to the landing pad. However before you go-" the students froze as they got out of their seats "-know that you carry the honour of the school with you. I have taken a great risk to entrust you with such a mission; do not dissapoint me." Ozpin concluded.
"Yessir." came Jaune and Ruby's response, and they left. Glynda remained in the office. She noted the worry lines in Ozpin's face, the creases of his brow and the dark coloration beneath his eyes.
"Are you all right? You seem...very worn out." she asked, concerned.
"All these recent events are troubling me...and now the Vytal Festival approaches. Responsibilty is a heavy burden. It's bound to take a toll on anyone." Ozpin said, scanning the target description. His features had an unsettling resemblance, and his weapon was too similar to another former student of Beacon. Opening up a list of former students, he found it. The match could not be perfect; after all it was between a full color image and a sketch, yet the resemblance was there.
Ozpin opened up a police report from VPD's Archives. Caleb, Lydia and Herman Grauer had all been listed 'missing' after travellers found the ashes of their home. Others had mentioned an unmarked convoy passing through the area; previously in the day a Schnee Convoy had been attacked. A link was more than possible. Closing the tabs, he decided to turn his attention to the more pressing matter next weeks team activities and schedules. Yet the Grauers lingered in the back of his mind; he had but one hope, if his suspicions were proven right.
He hoped for Team RWBY's and JNPR's sakes that they came back without harm.
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I am sorry for not sticking to the update schedule. I actually have half yearly exams this week and the next, thus there may be a brief halt in updates. Once more I apologize. If you are liking the story so far, don't forget to follow so you know when this story gets back online. Thank you very much.